As Vice President for the Division of Research & Innovation, one of my missions is to increase the number of students involved in research on all three campuses at Prairie View A&M University. The goal is for students—undergraduate and graduate—to be actively involved with scholarly research being conducted by the outstanding faculty researchers at PVAMU. Getting more students to understand the vision and goal of becoming an emerging research institution takes teamwork and collaboration across colleges/schools, and disciplines, to student life, athletics, and academic affairs.
In late September, Chase Martin, the new Student Government Association Vice President of Research and Development, contacted me to introduce himself and requested a meeting about possible collaborations between the SGA and R&I. I truly appreciated Martin for being proactive and taking the initiative to network and seek out collaboration. I looked forward to learning more about his position as VP of Research and Development, his goals for the year, and how R& and the SGA could work together to attract more students into research.
SGA Vice President Martin and I met one week later. Martin shared with me that he was establishing the mission and goals for Research & Development with new initiatives, so meeting with me would be a great way to ensure his efforts would support the university’s goals for research. I shared with him details about R&I’s Faculty-Research & Innovation for Scholarly Excellence for undergraduate and graduate students, a program that supports students who receive hands-on training from faculty on scholarly research projects. Faculty-RISE was initially launched by sponsoring 30 students. For Fiscal Year 2021-2022, we are now supporting 130 student researchers.
Martin, a Houston native, who is a junior majoring in architecture, shared preliminary details on some research projects he has in mind; this includes a student COVID-19 study on how students are coping. Throughout our conversation, it became clear that a Division of R&I and SGA Research and Development partnership would be an outstanding idea:
- R&I will:
- Increase the exposure of the SGA and all students to the research and innovation opportunities available for them
- Provide program support for Martin’s SGA programs that he is formulating for the academic year
- R&I specialists will serve as guest speakers to provide industry insight on innovation, development, and research.
- SGA will:
- Cross-promote R&I student research & innovation opportunities and competitions among the student community
- Seek out R&I specialists for guidance and training on conducting research effectively
- Strengthen the awareness and ties between students, faculty researchers, and R&I.
Magesh T. Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA
I applaud SGA Vice President Martin for his drive to elevate research and development among his peers, Student Affairs, and to entire Prairie View A&M student population. Congratulations on your new post! R&I looks forward to cultivating this partnership and relationship as we work together to showcase PVAMU becoming an emerging research institution.
Magesh T. Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA, is Vice President of the Division of Research & Innovation.